Sixers again prove sights set on star-studded 2019 free agency class

Sixers again prove sights set on star-studded 2019 free agency class

On the surface, the Philadelphia 76ers’ decision to join in the trade between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Atlanta Hawks headlined by Carmelo Anthony and Dennis Schroder made sense.

Days after Nemanja Bjelica backed out of an agreement with the Sixers, Philly was left attempting to figure out who would fill the Ersan Ilyasova role as the team’s key stretch-four with the second unit. So, they brought in Mike Muscala from the Hawks.

The cost of acquiring Muscala wasn’t incredibly cheap, though. The Sixers sent two young players in their own former first-round pick Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Justin Anderson, who was a first-round selection by the Mavericks in 2015.

Both players had flashed upside to this point in their young careers, but it seems Philly was much more focused on freeing up the additional cap space in 2019 with this deal.

The trade takes 2019 salary cap hits of just over $2.5 million for Anderson and more than $1.54 million for Luwawu-Cabarrot off the books. To go along with that, Muscala is only under contract for one season with a $5 million cap hit.

While removing Anderson and Luwawu-Cabarrot’s cap hits is big, Mark Deeks of GiveMeSport points out the Sixers have a massive amount of money coming off the books ahead of 2019 free agency.

Sixers declutter a backup wing rotation that didn't have starting potential, prioritising Smith, Fultz and a dollop of Korkmaz, all for a decent expiring reserve. Between Bayless, Muscala, Redick (who can veto) and Chandler, they now have $38,626,478 in expiring salary.

This is key for Brett Brown and company, who haven’t shied away from the whole “star-hunting” focus, even after missing on LeBron James this offseason.

Instead of stressing that situation, the Sixers took additional steps to create more cap space for next offseason when a plethora of stars will hit the open market. One of those big names could be Kawhi Leonard, who the Sixers attempted to trade for in recent weeks.

It seems that the focus on star-hunting has simply shifted to next offseason from this one for Philly, and that seems like the right decision.